


Astral of Daemons

by ViolentVioletEye



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Ardyn Izunia Being Ardyn Izunia, Ardyn Izunia Redemption, Astrals Bashing (Final Fantasy XV), Astrals Being Assholes (Final Fantasy XV), Kinda?, M/M, Noctis Is The Astral of Daemons, Screw Destiny, kinda???
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-30
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:28:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23399977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ViolentVioletEye/pseuds/ViolentVioletEye
Summary: "He was born from the Starscourge, just as his children were."Noctis is the Astral of Daemons, and Luna is the Oracle of Light destined to purge the Daemons and Accursed from Eos. Ardyn is, as always, Ardyn.
Relationships: Ardyn Izunia/Noctis Lucis Caelum
Comments: 8
Kudos: 48





	1. Destiny

##  He was born from the Starscourge, just as his children were.

He came after them, though. A handful of them existed before he appeared into existence, withering and screaming whilst spitting up the inky substance he would come to know soon enough. The first being he killed was one of the original daemons, an Alberich that didn't quite realize who he was. And just who was he? He was an Astral made by Bahamut, crafted with the very purpose of containing the Daemons that came from the Starscourge. A temporary fix, the great being had claimed. Just until the Starscourge was purged from Eos. Of course, eons later and the Astral of the Daemons was still there, prowling with his children as the black of the scourge flowed through his veins. His name was Noctis. It was fitting since he and his children could only be out at night.

Noctis was tired of it.

Despite what many would think, he didn't like what he was. These creatures, twisted into their state of being by the sickness, were technically his children. But they gave him little solace, and more often than not they gave only sadness. He could feel the young ones' suffering, and the hollow ache that came from the older ones was something he knew all too well. There was a simple solution, of course. If all of the Daemons were gone, then there would be no reason for Noctis to exist. He could have an eternity of peace, or just simply nothing. Either would be bliss for him. But even if he were to wipe out every one of his children—which he was not allowed to do, Bahamut had been adamant on that, the sack of shit—he would still be stuck on this horrible excuse for a world. As long as there was Starscourge, there would be the possibility of more daemons.

So when he heard Bahamut boasting about how he had figured out how to finally rid this world of the Starscourge and the 'Accursed,' he was quite interested. The Accursed was still a fresh topic, in the eyes of the Gods anyway. They were eager to figure out how they could be rid of him, Bahamut most of all. Noctis knew him well, though he had surprisingly never met him face to face. But he knew him. He could feel his presence always, drumming in the back of his mind because of all of the daemons he had in his body. Some were from healing. At this point, most were from daemon-ifying living creatures. Most of them being humans.

As Noctis listened to Bahamut spin a tale of an Oracle having the ability to bring down the Accused and banish daemons and Starscourge out of Eos, he lost his excitement. It was impossible. No mortal would ever be able to do that, Oracle or not! But then again, he wondered what he had to lose. Bahamut said that the Oracle wouldn't appear for some time. So that meant he had time to kill, to mull this over. If it didn't happen then he wouldn't even be surprised. If it somehow  _ did,  _ though, then he would spend his time ensuring that this Oracle was successful.

He had nothing against the Accursed, truly. He knew he wanted vengeance. He had been wronged so cruelly. But Noctis didn't look out for other people's needs. He looked out for his own, and he just wanted to Rest.

  
  


The Oracle's name was Lunafreya.

Noctis can't be there to witness her birthday for many reasons. To be near the current Oracle, Lunafreya's mother who was Queen Sylva Via Fleuret of Tenebrae, was much too painful. While Noctis couldn't be killed entirely, he could still be dead for a few hours. It was always such a troubling experience. So, since he can't be there, he watches the world instead. Tenebrae rejoices, eager for the Oracle line to continue. Lucis sends polite congratulations. Niflheim gives only cold stone silence.

Noctis, though he tries not to be, is hopeful. He wants to believe that Lunafreya—dubbed Luna by her older brother Ravus—could one day free him from his miserable existence, but he also has to be practical. She is human. Oracle blood flows through her, but what sets her apart from the others in her line? What makes her special from her mother? Her grandmother? Sure, she is Bahamut blessed, but that can only take a person so far. What makes her so powerful that she could purge the Accursed and take the Starscourge with it? He comes to the same conclusion as before, and that is that he has to wait. All he can do now is wait. She is but a babe, and he can't expect too much for her. So he sits back and waits. He spends his days sleeping and prowling at night with his children, searching to satisfy the hunger that always gnaws at his stomach. The hunger of a daemon that would never be satisfied.

He takes his eyes off of the Oracle for one moment and quickly realizes that had been a mistake. When she is eight years old, she's attacked by one of his own while she and her family are traveling home from a trip. The Queen had some healing to do, and Oracle training starts early. The daemon rips the car open with its bare hands and is able to leave a deep and scalding claw mark down her tiny back. It would have been worse, but a sacrifice is made that saves Luna's life.

Twelve-year-old Ravus leaps between her and the daemon, and in saving her life he gives his own.

Not for the very first time, Noctis is disgusted with one of his children. He watches with no remorse as they put the daemon down. He watches as the Oracle is rushed away to receive medical attention. Her mother can purge the Starscourge left from the attack, but she can't heal the wound. Noctis is left in the wreckage of the attack, which he can't even approach until night falls hours later. He's alone by then. The Queen took the body of her son with her, to purge him of the Starscourge so he wouldn't be twisted into the very thing that killed him. As he stands there, staring at the twisted remains of the car, he's suddenly not alone anymore.

"What a mess."

He glances over his shoulder and pauses. He's never seen the Accursed, but his presence has been in the back of his head long enough that he recognizes him the moment he looks at him.

What the  _ hell  _ is he wearing?

"Trying to delay our end, are you?" The Accursed muses. "I suppose I can respect that."

"This wasn't me," Noctis scoffs as he looks back at the mess before him. It stinks of blood, both human and daemon. The presence of death is everywhere. "This was merely rotten luck, Accursed." The Accursed coughs.

"You may call me Ardyn," he claims pointedly, and Noctis crinkles his nose. "You're Noctis, are you not?" Noctis turns and crosses his arms, looking the Accursed— _ Ardyn _ —up and down. "You're the Astral of the Daemons."

"Why are you here, Ardyn?" The man—who could barely even be considered one—glances around the wreckage.

"I heard about the attack, and I came to see if it was true. It seems as though it was. A shame, really. There's talk that this could cripple the Oracle of Light. How is she meant to fight me from a wheelchair?"

Noctis stares at him.

"You disgust me."

"Ah, so you've discussed me?"

  
  


Noctis watches as Queen Sylva takes her daughter—now tragically her only child—to the Kingdom of Lucis from the darkness in the forest. He follows them as far as the trees will go, even slipping past the wall without much of a care. That ring is powerful, sure, but it can't hold back Astrals. Even the Astral of Daemons. He can't go much further when they hit the city line, so he settles in the forest and waits for nightfall. Even though Insomnia is a bright city, not many people are out on the streets at night and he could always use a cloak when he couldn't stick to the shadows. As he lays on the forest ground between two trees, taking apart a twelfth flower bit by bit, he's suddenly not alone. Again.

"Hello! I didn't quite expect to see you out here!"

Noctis shuts his eyes and sighs. "What are you doing here, Ardyn." Ardyn examines the Astral, lying on the ground like a mortal man. By all means, he does look mortal. His skin is a pasty white as though he has never touched sunlight before, and considering his position that was probably for the best. His eyes are some of the clearest, darkest blues that Ardyn has ever seen. He wears black and gray robes, which are frayed at the ends and recedes to his ankles. He is barefoot.

"For the same reason as you, I believe. To see how the Oracle fairs."

"She's in a stable condition."

"But she isn't out of the woods just yet. It's best that they brought her to Lucis, their healers aren't one of the worst in Eos."

Noctis opens his eyes to glance at him and raises an eyebrow. "So you want her to live."

"I want what you want," Ardyn claims. "And that's for this blasted existence to end." Noctis stares at him before he shuts his eyes again and lets the wind carry away the torn pieces of the flower.

"They say the King invited them. Oh, what is his name…"

"Regis. He and Sylva are old friends."

"Does he have no Queen?"

"He used to. She died in childbirth, along with their son."

Noctis opens one eye and stares at Ardyn. The Accursed has settled an arm's length away from him. "He's childless? What a shame." Ardyn hums.

"Not entirely. He's adopted this boy with blond hair; Prompto, I believe?" Noctis raises his eyebrows.

"Interesting," he says simply before he peers up at the branches of the trees. "Why are you here? You could easily go to the city." Ardyn snorts.

"I'm the Chancellor of  _ Niflheim." _ Noctis crinkles his nose.

"That's what you've been doing in your free time? Shiva's tits, Ardyn." Ardyn's eyebrows shot up before he laughed, leaning back onto his hands. Noctis only scoffs and turns his head away. He ignores how something shifts in his chest at the sound.   
  


Luna is much too innocent for the role she's meant to fill. Perhaps it's just because of her age, but Noctis feels like she might not be able to handle what is expected of her. She is confined to a wheelchair, but that doesn't stop her and the Luci's Prince, Prompto, from playing and hanging out. They read books. They get into taking pictures together when Prompto's godfather Cor gives him a Polaroid camera from his youth. Many guards are ambushed by the energetic royals as they stand guard. They catch King Regis so off guard this one time that the picture was just a blur of his body as he shot out of his chair.

Noctis learns all of this from Ardyn. He watches them during the day, while Noctis watches Luna during the night. She is plagued by nightmares, and more often than not he has to melt into the shadows when her feverish screams draw in guards and her mother. Noctis isn't sure when he and Ardyn decided upon this arrangement, and neither of them can't always stay. Noctis has to feed or he'll attack the first person he sees. Ardyn has duties as the  _ ~Chancellor~  _ which Noctis still can't believe. Some days Luna is left alone, and some nights Noctis isn't always there the entire time to watch over her.

What was he watching out for? Fool assassins like the man he has pinned under his foot. The man chokes on his blood while Luna screams from her bed, and Noctis has barely melted back into the shadows when the door bursts open and guards come running into the room, shouting out codenames and radioing for backup. One of the guards, Nyx Ulfric, scoops the sobbing Luna out her bed and races back out of the room. The assassin is dead and oozing Starscourge from his neck by the time she's out of the room. The room is quarantined after Queen Sylva purges the body and they burn it to ensure nothing spreads from it. Luna is moved into Prompto's room. After the scare of the assassination attempt fades away for them, which is rather quickly, they're ecstatic to be sharing a room. Luna is also given her own guard, and it's fourteen-year-old Gladiolus Amicitia. Kingsglaive starts investigating where the assassin came from and how he could have gotten the parasite-like disease. Noctis knows they won't find out the latter, and he already knows the answer to the former.  _ Niflheim. _

Luna adjusts fairly quickly. It's shortly after the assassination that she's able to begin walking again. She and Prompto continue terrorizing the castle while Gladiolus scrambles to keep up. Luna takes to calling him Gladio and he calls her Princess in retaliation. And she calls Noctis 'Noct.'

He was in the shadows of her and Prompto's room. The blond prince was out cold in his bed, still as a rock. Luna was still awake, sat up in her bed as she stared at the door across from the bed. She did that most nights. Even if she was exhausted, fear of nightmares and boogeymen keeps her awake. Noctis is wondering when Ardyn when is going to come back or if he ever  _ is  _ going to come back after that failed assassination attempt when Luna suddenly turns her eyes towards the corner he's standing in.

"Hello," she whispers.

The shadows fall away from him in shock. His dark blue eyes glow in the dark as he stares at her. He slowly steps forward, the wooden floor cold against his bare feet.

"Hello, Oracle of Light," he whispers so as not to disturb Prompto or alert the guards outside. Gladio is standing guard with Nyx and trying his hardest to keep from falling asleep.

"You're the one that saved me from that bad man, aren't you?" Ah. So she had seen him. He assumed she somehow hadn't since she hadn't said anything about it to anyone. He nods. "What's your name?" She whispers, undeterred by his lack of voice. Noctis hesitates. He's not known in the world of Eos. If anyone has seen him, they're dead shortly after. He hunts in his daemon form, and so he blends in with the other daemons. He's just often… Bigger. He supposes there wouldn't be any harm in telling her his name.

"Noctis."

She watches him with bright and curious blue eyes. "Are you a guardian?" Noctis blinked. "A messenger? My mother has told me all about those! I mean, you have to be, you saved me!" Noctis stares at the young girl and is briefly seized by rage. Not towards her, no, she is an innocent child and that is what _angers_ him. Why does an innocent mortal have to fix the mistakes made by the Astrals? It's not the first time he is angry at Bahamut for the shit he's done to Eos, but it is a first that it's not for himself but another person.

But he doesn't voice this. He only smiles at her, being careful to avoid showing any sharp teeth.

"I suppose I am, yes." Her eyes brighten and she smiles.

"Can I call you Noct? That's easier to say!" Noctis raises an eyebrow before he chuckles and nods. "Oh, and—can you tell me a bedtime story? Prompto fell asleep before we could read one together!"

Ardyn still hasn't come back nearly a month later. Noctis has taken to watching Luna the best he could during both day and night. Sometime this week he was going to have to hunt, though. The gnawing in his stomach was growing in intensity, and he knew what happened when he ignored it for too long. He didn't think too much on it as he sat in the forest, watching as Luna and her mother had some tea. They have just finished dinner, and the sun is beginning to dip down the horizon. They're chattering about this and that, and something about the sight warms Noctis's cold and still heart. The bond between a mother and her child was one he has always envied. He had tried to have one with the daemons, but it was impossible. He still refers to them as his children, since they weren't anything else.

"What a marvelous story, my dear. Who told you this? Gladiolus?"

"No! He's horrible with stories, mother! All he wants to read are these mushy, romance novels!"

Sylva laughs and Noctis smiles. Luna is one for tales of dangerous adventures with happy and satisfying endings, he has learned. Noctis has never experienced those before, but he has heard plenty in the many years he has been alive. 

"No, my friend Noctis told me!"

Sylva pauses and the smile drops off Noctis's face.

_ Shit. _

"Noctis? My, what a wonderful name."

"Yeah, he's really nice! He needs new clothes though, they are all torn!"

Noctis swallows. His mouth feels very dry. Sylva chuckles before she stands.

"It's getting rather late dear, why don't you go find Prompto and play a bit before bed?" Luna brightens and nods. She gives her mother a tight hug, then goes running for the castle. Gladio, who had been waiting—out of earshot—at the entrance of the garden, lets her take his hand and pull him back to the castle. Sylva stays sitting at the table, sipping at her cooling tea. The sun has set and dusk is settling in.

"I know you're there, Noctis."

Noctis pauses before he steps out of the forest. The grass tickles his bare feet but he thinks nothing of it as he crosses the clearing. There's no one to hide from, except for the Queen who already knew he was here. What was left of daylight prickles at his skin but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. He approaches the table but stays an arm's length away. Sylva doesn't look away from him once.

"I had a feeling that you… or at least,  _ something…  _ was around. The Starscourge on that assassin only further proved it." She sets her teacup down and puts her hands in her lap. Her legs are crossed at the knee, her back straight and shoulders squared as she stares down at Noctis. Her blue eyes are much like Luna's, only older and wiser. "May I ask why the Astral of Daemons has taken an interest in my daughter?"

"It's not because of the attack, as I'm sure you're wondering," he responds evenly. He was glad Ardyn wasn't here. That man never knew when to shut up. "I had nothing to do with it. But your daughter had my interest before then." She narrows her eyes.

"And why?"

"You're the Oracle. You know why."

They stare at each other evenly, both refusing to back down. Then Sylva sighs and suddenly looks much older.

"So it's true, then. She is the famed Oracle of Light."

"I'm sorry."

He doesn't elaborate on why he was sorry. She doesn't need him to.

"Are you here to make sure she fails?" Noctis shakes his head. "Then what are you here for?"

"I'm here to ensure that she succeeds." Sylva peers at him, eyes sparkling with interest. "I am tired of this existence, Oracle. I am tired of feasting on the innocent just to keep myself from going crazy from hunger. I am sick of watching the innocent fall to the sickness and morph into my kind." Sylva's mouth is in a thin line as she listens and he sighs. If she doesn't believe him, there was little he could do. "I am here to ensure she succeeds so that I may finally have peace."

"And what of the Accursed?"

Ah. She knows about that too, does she? Truthfully, he doesn't know why he's surprised. She's the Oracle. The fact that she even knows what Noctis is just by his name is telling.

"He agrees… I believe. Of course, he won't go down without a fight. But he's not looking to take your daughter out before she can fulfill the prophecy." Sylva sighs shakily and relaxes in her chair. Noctis's heart trembles for her. She has lost her only son, and now her only daughter and child is the famed Oracle of Light that is supposed to die for the Astrals' mistakes.

"Thank you," she says and Noctis shifts. "I will do my best to prepare her." He only nods, and then disappears. He's never liked talking to humans. It's too much, with all of their emotions. Mostly it's anger or fear. But the gratitude in Queen Sylva's voice…

Ugh. It gives him a headache. He prefers fear and anger.

Sylva never gets to help her daughter prepare. She returns to her Kingdom to take care of some business later that week and perishes. Noctis had gone hunting that day, to finally satisfy his hunger, and he watches as daemonified soldiers burn the castle to the ground with the Oracle in it.

He screams several miles away, tears three trees out of the ground, but it does nothing to put out the fury that burns in his chest. It sucks away the air in his lungs and turns his screams in gurgled growls. He already hates his daemons and himself. He hates what he has to do to survive. He hates that his daemons aren't even shells but dying embers of their former selves and that they keep dragging down other humans with them. But there's nothing he can do about that. It's in their nature, and you can't change nature. But daemons being used as glorified weapons by humans was  _ too much.  _ That wasn't supposed to be possible. No one could get close enough to a daemon to study it and they couldn't even study the carcasses without them disappearing—or the scientists contracting the Starscourge. It all just depended on which one happened first.

No. The only way they could have done this was if they had someone who knew daemons and Starscrouge like the back of their hands. He only knew one person like that.

_ "Ardyn." _

Those empty husks of soldiers did have the Niflheim symbol.

_ "ACCURSED!" _


	2. Childhood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ardyn and Noctis watch Luna grow from the sidelines. Her destiny looms.

Lucis officially declares that Luna is under their protection hours after the news of her mother’s death reaches them, and dares for the Niflheim to try and take her. Their claim that the Queen perished in an unfortunate fire doesn’t fool them, or most of Eos for that matter. They all grieve for the Oracle, and the only solace they can find is that she was now with her son. The doubt doesn’t stop Niflheim from claiming the Tenebrae land, and Lucis, regretfully, doesn’t have the manpower to stop them. Luna will probably never be able to return home and she’s officially an orphan. Noctis watches her cry and cry from the sidelines, and at night she begs for him to do something. But there is nothing he can do. He and his children bring death, they don’t stop it. He doesn’t have the heart to tell her this and just holds her carefully as she cries. His anger grows with every tear, and there is a lot.

When Ardyn dares to show his face around Noctis again, he is immediately met with a clawed strike. It’s only pure luck that he’s able to dodge it, sidestepping Noctis’s lunge that follows. “Now, while I don’t mind an improv training session,” he steps out of the way of another swipe and gets a furious snarl in reply, “I’m curious about what I’ve done to provoke this!”

**“You know what you’ve done,”** Noctis’s voice is low and deep, corrupted by the black ichor that's dripping down his throat. It tastes disgusting, but the taste of betrayal and rage drowns it out. How foolish of him, to feel as though he had been betrayed. He and Ardyn weren’t partners in crime. They weren’t even  _ friends.  _ How could he have been so dumb, so damn  _ blind,  _ to think that they were anything else? How could he think that Ardyn the Accursed, the very person that Luna was meant to kill, the sole reason why she had been  _ born,  _ would want to ensure her safety? Those honey words about them wanting the same things had just been lies meant to lure him into a false sense of security.  **“The assassin, the Queen’s death—not to mention those daemon** **_soldiers!”_ **

He’s struggling to stay in his mortal form. He could fall into his daemon form easily and tear Ardyn apart, but he’s holding on for the sole reason that he wants to yell at Ardyn some more. He’s got a lot of anger to vent before he delves into his rage. He knows he can’t kill him, he  _ knows,  _ but he wants to tear him apart and leave him to bring himself back together. He just wants to feel as though he’s done something to avenge Sylva. He doesn’t understand why he wants to avenge her so badly, she is— _ was _ —just a human. An Oracle, sure, but a human nonetheless. It confuses him, and that just feeds into his rage.

“Ah.” Ardyn ducks under his swipe and now, now Noctis is  _ really  _ pissed. “I see. You think I had a hand in those events.” Noctis narrows his eyes. They’re turning violet, drowning out the blue. His hands turned into sharp talons minutes ago, but they get sharper and longer with every moment that passes. “While it might seem pretty damning, I’ve had nothing to do with either of those events.”

**“You certainly knew about them,”** Noctis snarls. Ardyn shrugs.  **“Why didn’t you warn me?!”**

“I was sure you had it handled. Besides, if she’s truly Bahamut’s chosen, then she would survive even if you weren’t there.”

**“And the Queen?!”**

“A casualty in war. What kind of Chancellor would I be if I fought against the idea of such an attack? I  _ do  _ have an image to uphold, Noctis!”

He’s right. He’s right and it pisses Noctis off even more. But while he might be able to justify the first two accusations, it doesn’t take from the third and final one.

**“And those daemon soldiers?! I’m sure you had a grand time helping those develop!”** Ardyn huffs as if Noctis is an annoying pest he has to deal with, and dear Shiva, Noctis isn’t so sure he can get even more furious.

“I had nothing to do with those. The Niflheim isn’t stupid. They’re quite technologically advanced, actually! They took what they had from the tests they did on me, and ran with it!” Noctis’s eyes narrow before he snarls.

**“And you let them!”**

“Appearances, Noctis! We’ve been through this!”

Noctis glares at him. His eyes are completely violet now. The dark blue was drowned out a long time ago. Ardyn gives him a cheeky grin, mirth dancing in his eyes as if this is some joke. Some spat between a couple.

“Come on now, Noctis. You can’t blame me for any of this! Doing so would greatly damage our partnership!” He holds his hand out for a friendly shake. “So, how about we let this let? Water under the bridge? Let bygones be bygones?”

Ardyn gets clawed across the face. He can’t dodge this one because he, truthfully, wasn’t expecting it. As he bleeds on the ground, black ichor dripping onto the grass, Noctis turns and storms towards the forest. The sun is beginning to rise, and he needs to get back to Lucis so he can watch over Luna. She’s utterly alone now. Her brother is dead, and now her mother has followed. He won't leave her too.

“I am not your partner!” Noctis snaps over his shoulder, and Ardyn laughs. “I’d rather burn alive in the sun then deal with your shit!”

He deals with Ardyn’s shit for the next twelve Astral-damned years.

Under their watchful eyes, Luna grows. She spends her childhood recovering from the two greatest losses a child shouldn’t have to endure, continuing to play with Prompto, and when they grow older they both move on to more adult activities. Such as fighting. Luna takes after her mother in many ways. She has a natural way with words, and she’s absolutely deadly in a fight. While the latter is taken care of by Kingsglaive, Cor, and Gladio, the former is tackled by Ignis Scientia. He teaches Luna and Prompto everything they need to know as royalty. From politics to geography, he ensures that they are a master in it all—Luna more so since Prompto is more focused on kicking ass with Gladio. Ignis is a good boy, Noctis inwardly decides. A bit cold and guarded when he first meets the Princess, but that melts away when she wiggles her way into his heart. She has the uncanny ability to do that, you see. Noctis knows that first hand. And even though Ardyn won’t admit it, he has a suspicion that he’s experienced that too. In the few ways that he can, anyway.

Unlike Noctis, Ardyn can never meet her. Noctis is an Astral and can be played off as an imaginary friend, and when she grows older she knows to keep her mouth shut about his existence. But Ardyn is, by all means, the Chancellor of Niflheim. He’s in the public’s light, and she knows of him. The times they meet in real life is few and far in between, when his presence at a gala is more out of necessity than anything. In her eyes, he is part of the enemy that killed her mother. He’s not someone she is willing to trust.

And at the end of the day, she is destined to kill him.

They don’t speak of the prophecy that much. But it hangs over their heads like a thick cloud, always threatening to rain on their good days. It only adds to the misery on the bad days, when Luna has such bad back pain that she can’t get out of bed, or when she weeps over her mother and brother. They both wonder if she’ll be able to do it. If Ardyn will be able to let her. Noctis wasn’t bluffing when he told Sylva that the Accursed would not go down without a fight.

When she and Prompto are both twenty, it's time for Prompto’s ‘coming of age’ ceremony. It’s not the kind you would expect from such a tradition heavy kingdom like Lucis, especially when it came to their royals. There is no party, no banquet, no crown to be placed on his head. No. It's a road trip. He is allowed to take only his Crownsguard, which consists of Gladio, Ignis, and, of course, Luna. Regis gives his adopted son his love and his blessing and gives his own to Luna too. While he never officially adopted her and she isn’t of his blood, it's easy to see that he sees her as his daughter just as he sees Prompto as his son. For Luna, who had never had a father figure, it is a blessing she gladly takes.

Ardyn and Noctis watch from the shadows as the four pile into the car, laughing and talking. Regis stands at the top of the stairs leading down to the driveway, Clarus at his side as always. He watches Prompto with pride and a sad look hidden in his aged eyes. Noctis and Ardyn are silent as they watch the car drive away before they look at each other. The wind blows the end of Ardyn’s coat up. It brushes against the back of Noctis’s legs but it doesn’t give him solace as it usually would. Neither of them says a word. There is nothing to be said. Nothing they can say will take away what's going to happen while the adoptive Crown Prince and the Oracle of Light are away from their home.

It burns in Noctis’s chest that he can’t warn Luna or Prompto that this will be the last time they see Regis alive. He’s been feeling a lot of regrets as of late, as Luna grows older and he knows their days are numbered.  _ Luna’s  _ days are numbered. Noctis has come to terms with his upcoming demise. He did years ago. But he hasn’t come to terms with Luna’s. He’s not sure he ever will.

“It's for the best,” Ardyn finally admits. Noctis scoffs but there’s such little venom behind it that it's almost sad.

“Don’t bullshit me, Ardyn…” He watches the car disappear down the street, blue eyes dark with a sadness he has not felt since he watched Ardyn’s fall.

“We’re both too tired for that.”


End file.
